


For All The Things My Hands Have Held

by t_hoe_s



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Missing Scene, One Shot, Spock is mentioned, and smooching!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:33:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24863890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t_hoe_s/pseuds/t_hoe_s
Summary: Dr. Leonard McCoy has had an INCREDIBLY bad day. Jim gets to kiss it better.
Relationships: James T. Kirk/Leonard "Bones" McCoy
Comments: 13
Kudos: 106





	For All The Things My Hands Have Held

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nbVulcan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nbVulcan/gifts).



> Inspired by my friend [@nonbinaryvulcan](https://nonbinaryvulcan.tumblr.com/) on tumblr (nbVulcan here on ao3!) who pointed out that Jim does a lot of hanging off ledges and getting his hands stomped on in Star Trek (2009)!
> 
> So a very happy birthday to him (event though i'm like a week late, oops), and please enjoy! :)

“ _Ow, Bones!_ ” Jim whined, yanking his hand back from Bones’ bruising grip.

“Aw, quit being a baby,” Bones growled in response, yanking Jim’s hand right back and forcefully but smoothly placing it inside the osteogenic regenerator. He clicked his tongue disapprovingly and scowled even deeper than usual, fussing with the various tools and devices he’d brought over to tend to Jim’s injuries. “I can’t _believe_ you broke these same fingers _twice_ in the same goddamn day. _TWICE,_ Jim! What the hell were you thinking?”

“Well, I didn’t do it on purpose, Bones,” Jim chuckled, then sighed. It _had_ been one hell of a day; it had gotten off on the wrong track right away, what with the unexpected academic hearing, and had quickly spiraled out from there. Romulans, being marooned on Delta Vega IV, timelines intersecting… and that was all before lunch. Then there had been that whole business with the red matter and ejecting the warp core, leaving the Enterprise to limp on impulse power to a rendezvous with their tow back to Earth. And even though Jim had given Sulu the conn as Bones had practically dragged him off the bridge for treatment, he was technically still acting captain until Captain Pike was back on his feet and cleared for duty.

“You’ve gotta be more careful, Jim,” Bones growled, low and throaty, interrupting Jim’s reverie.

Jim was quiet a moment, watching Bones carefully. He was very obviously avoiding looking at Jim, continuing to fiddle with monitors and readings. Something was off here; Jim was sure of it. “Bones…?”

Jim reached his good hand out towards Bones’ ash- and sweat-streaked cheek, like he had so many times before, but Bones flinched away before Jim could touch him. Bones was always nagging Jim for something stupid he had done, but this time he seemed actually _angry_. Jim hadn’t seen him this upset since their early days at the academy. Bones grumbled something unintelligible under his breath, then turned on his heel and marched away across medbay.

Hopping off of the biobed he’d been sitting on, Jim took his hand back from the regenerator and followed Bones through the chaos that had descended on medbay after their return from the Narada only about an hour ago. He watched as Bones stepped inside the CMO’s office, racing to catch the door before it could slide shut and lock behind Dr. McCoy.

Jim immediately regretted that decision: he howled as the sliding door crunched down on his right hand, which was already swollen well beyond its usual size and turning an impressive array of purples and blacks. It was only a second or two before the door whooshed open once more to reveal Bones standing on the other side, a look of alarm breaking through the blank mask he’d worn only moments ago. Another second passed as Bones just stood in the doorway, finally looking Jim in the eye. In them, Jim could suddenly see all the things Bones had been trying to hide from: he watched as Bones’ expression shifted from surprise, through horror, to dread. Bones’ gaze landed on Jim’s injured hand, the color rising high in his cheeks and his breath growing erratic.

All at once, Bones grabbed Jim by his collar and dragged him into the room, and at last the office door slid shut.

And then Bones was pressing him against the door, kissing him— desperate and tearful, lips meeting around sobs and gasps from Bones. Jim’s good hand finally found Bones’ face, tracing up his unshaven jaw and around his neck, cupping his head tenderly behind the ear and using it to take a little more control of the kiss as Bones’ hands, still bunched up in his torn and bloodied shirt, began to shake. Jim kept their faces pressed close together, kissing Bones’ cheeks, his temple, his forehead, his nose, when Bones pulled away, sobbing too hard to continue the kiss.

“Bones, honey, I’m _okay_ ,” Jim whispered, imparting a soft kiss to the hollow of Bones’ throat.

“Like _hell_ you are, Jim!” Bones pulled away from him abruptly, looking down at him with eyes burning with an intensity Jim had never seen before. Jim had to take it back— he had _never_ seen Bones this upset. “You could have _died_ today, and I had to just _trust_ that green-blooded, pointy-eared son of a _bitch_ to help you get back safe, and try and do my job _here_ , after he tried to _kill_ you on the bridge earlier!”

Jim stood in stunned silence as he watched Bones bite down on his quivering lip and look away, fresh tears spilling past his lashes. Bones moved to step away, and this time Jim let him go. He sank wordlessly into the desk chair of this office he had suddenly inherited today, face in his hands.

The silence left in the wake of Bones’ outburst was so complete that Jim couldn’t bring himself to break it. Still standing beside the door, Jim fumbled with the manual room controls for a moment until he managed to dim the lights. Moving slowly, Jim approached Bones’ chair, circling around to the back of it. Cautiously, he reached his good hand down towards Bones’ shoulder; when Bones didn’t flinch away from him, he began to tenderly rub and knead at the chronically tight muscles of Bones shoulders, just like he always did whenever Bones was stressed about some test or lab at school. Odd to think that school had been the leading stressor in their lives until this morning… Leaning forward, Jim planted a row of feather-light kisses across the top of Bones’ head, towards his ear.

“What do you need, my love?”

Bones growled again, low in his chest, then abruptly spun his chair around. Jim yelped in surprise as Bones’ strong arms encircled him, pulling him into Bones’ lap. Within just a few seconds, Bones had tucked a giggling Jim tight against his chest, taking advantage of the opportunity to drop kisses all across Jim’s lightly freckled forehead.

“I need you to stay right here in my arms, where I can keep you safe, and never leave.” Bones voice was barely a whisper as he pressed another burning kiss against the bony ridge behind Jim’s ear.

“Well, I don’t know about never, Bones,” Jim murmured in response, eliciting another small growl from Bones, “but at least for now, I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

Jim wrapped his hands loosely around Bones’ neck and looked up into his eyes, their usually bright, warm color dulled by worry and exhaustion. Tipping his chin up slightly, Jim nudged Bones’ nose with his own, watching as Bones’ eyes closed before capturing Jim’s lips in a fierce, bruising kiss. Jim gasped against his mouth as Bones’ arms tightened around his bruised ribs. Matching Bones’ intensity, Jim sat up a little straighter, deepening the kiss and running his hands up the back of Bones’ neck to tangle the fingers of his uninjured hand in Bones’ hair.

After a moment, it was Jim who pulled away, panting. “I’m _so_ sorry I made you worry, Bones. In all the chaos today, I didn’t even think…”

Bones snorted a little at that, nuzzling his face into Jim’s hair. “Yeah, that’s not unusual, darlin’,” Bones said, chuckling. Pulling back to look into Jim’s eyes again, he continued, “And that’s something I love about you, generally. You have good instincts, and you know how to trust your gut. You don’t waste time deciding: you just act. It’s why you’re gonna make a great captain someday, sweetheart. Just promise me you’ll at least _try_ to look a little before you leap. I need you to keep coming home to me,” he finished, tucking Jim’s head back beneath his chin protectively.

“As long as you promise you’ll always be here to fix me up when I get back,” Jim mumbled into Bones’ chest. Suddenly, he felt all the exhaustion that had been looming over his shoulder all day overtake him.

“Speaking of…” Bones began, turning the chair and scooting them both backwards towards the cabinets standing against the wall. After a moment of fumbling, Bones had produced another regenerator, which he slipped smoothly over Jim’s hand where it rested loosely against Bones’ chest. With a quiet _beep_ , the regenerator began to glow a pale blue, and Bones relaxed into the chair again.

“We’ll worry about your ribs later, kid. Don’t think I didn’t notice.” Jim could hear the smile in his voice.

“Thanks, Bones,” Jim murmured sleepily.

“Sure thing, sugar. It’s what I do. You just keep bringing yourself home in one piece.”

Jim felt the familiar flutter of Bones’ breath in his hair a second before another warm kiss landed just above his brow. Bones was a source of strength and steadfastness in his life, an immovable object to match his own unstoppable force. There was nowhere in the world Jim felt safer than here, curled up in Bones’ arms. He relaxed into the stillness of the moment, this one little bubble of peace and normalcy in all the chaos, and drifted off to sleep.


End file.
